Above Everything Else : a CaLeo High School AU
by KeiraViresse
Summary: School is round the corner and soon enough, Leo Valdez and Calypso find themselves as new students in Jourdan High School. To Calypso's dread, what if their literary class discusses "The Odyssey" and the role Calypso herself played in it? Will Leo judge her harshly as their classmates have done or will he be there by her side to reassure her of who she really is?


**CaLeo High School AU:**

 **Above Everything Else**

Summary: Following from the Blood of Olympus, Leo Valdez and Calypso successfully returned to Camp Half-Blood. But school is round the corner and soon enough, the couple find themselves as new students in Jourdan High School. To Calypso's dread, what if their literary class discusses _The Odyssey_ and the role _Calypso_ herself played in it? Will Leo judge her harshly as their classmates have done or will he be there by her side to reassure her of who she really is?

As Calypso walked into the sophomore corridor of Jourdan High School, she could not help but to feel nervous. It had been a week since school started but she still did not feel that she fit in. For one, it would be her first time to go to school (although Chiron fixed things up so she could enter the same year level as Leo's). Another reason was that she had not yet adjusted well to the modern mortal world after she and Leo came back from Ogygia to Camp Half-Blood. But high school was part of mortal life, which she signed up for the day she decided to be with Leo always. Luckily, she had him by her side, even now, as they walked hand-in-hand to their classroom. " _I'll be fine_ , _"_ she thought, as long as he was with her.

"Is everything okay, Callie?" Leo asked her, noticing her nervousness. Callie was the name she was using here in school to disguise that she was just a normal high school teen, not a three thousand-year old ex-goddess.

"Yes, I'm alright," she answered.

§

"Here come the lovebirds!" Jez, one of their unruly classmates called out as the couple entered the room. He was a good-looking blonde. "But it would suit you better Callie if you break up with your loser boyfriend and date me instead—you wouldn't be with scrawny!" he mocked.

The class erupted with laughter.

But Leo had a smart mouth. "I think you're the loser 'cuz a hot girl like her turned you down and chose me!" he retorted.

Some of their classmates actually laughed. But they shut up with one glare from Jez. As he opened his mouth to retort, however, the teacher walked in and everybody went back to their seats.

"Good morning class! Today you will again share your thoughts on _The Odyssey_. Character analysis. On the antagonists, this time. I would like to hear whom do you dislike the most in the story and why," instructed Mrs. Riley.

Calypso's heart twisted in dread. Ever since Mrs. Riley announced that their first literary piece to study would be _The Odyssey_ , she had worried that the class might discuss the role _she_ herself played in the story. She hoped nobody would mention Calypso.

A girl's hand went up. "The suitors of Queen Penelope, especially Antinous," she recited. "They were so arrogant and couldn't respect her choice to stay unmarried and wait for Odysseus. They would have hindered Odysseus a happy return to his wife if they succeeded in marrying her."

"Like someone I know who couldn't respect a girl's choice," Leo whispered to Calypso, referring to Jez.

"You've got a knack for analogies," Calypso muttered back, amused.

"Well-stated, Leah," Mrs. Riley commented. "The suitors were the last antagonist in the epic poem. Fortunately, Queen Penelope is clever enough to avoid marriage to one of them and that Odysseus defeated them in the end. 10 points for you, Leah. Next, who else?"

"Poseidon," answered Alain, an Asian boy. "I dislike him because he's the main antagonist in the story. He kept hampering Odysseus in his journey. He's too mean."

"But Poseidon has a reason to antagonize Odysseus, didn't he? Which is?" Mrs. Riley questioned the boy.

"Because Odysseus blinded his cyclops son, Polyphemus. But to me, it seems that Poseidon is trying to display his being a god as a right to bully the hero. That's why I dislike him. Though I'm glad the mortal is the one who prevailed in the end," replied Alain.

"Think of what Percy will say," Leo laughed out loud to Calypso.

Unfortunately, Mrs. Riley heard him. "What do you find funny, Valdez?" she snapped, obviously irritated, as reflected by the last-name basis.

"Nothing, Ma'am!" Leo yelped.

"Going back to the discussion, before I was rudely interrupted, Alain is correct. Poseidon was angry with Odysseus because he blinded the god's son. Opinion taken, Alain. 10 points for you," said Mrs. Riley.

"Oh man, how will I pass this class? I don't want to recite," Leo muttered to Calypso. "It's not Leo-ish of me to do," he added, jokingly.

"Me too. Though I doubt we'll fail this. We really know _more_ than they do," Calypso whispered back.

"That's right, Sunshine! As positive as ever, just like the sun!" Leo teased.

Calypso rolled her eyes at him.

In all honesty, Calypso did want to participate in the class discussions. She had a say in these "myths." After all, she was one. However, she just felt so shy and out-of-place among her classmates. Perhaps it was because she had not yet fully adjusted to being a mortal.

And she did not feel participating today because she wanted to avoid the topic of the antagonists.

Luckily, no one mentioned her in their recitations. One of her classmates recited about Polyphemus. Then the twin monsters of the sea, Scylla and Charybdis, were tackled. Helios and Zeus were also included.

As the discussion ran on, Calypso felt a little more at ease. No one mentioned _her_.

But just as she thought the discussion was done, someone said, "Wait, Mrs. Riley, I have another antagonist. Calypso."

Calypso froze.

"Ah, yes, what about Calypso?" their teacher responded.

"Calypso is an antagonist because she detained Odysseus in her prison island and hindered him from coming back to Queen Penelope. I dislike her 'cause she's a total flirt. The man doesn't like her but she can't take a hint. She still pushed herself to the poor guy."

"You are right but you should watch your language, Chezka. 5 points for you," Mrs. Riley commented. "Can anyone state their opinion better?"

"Calypso is a seductress, Mrs. Riley. She is adulterous because she wants to have a married man. She would have stopped Odysseus from coming back to his wife," a boy recited.

"Well-said. 10 points for you, Blake," Mrs. Riley said.

"Aside from that, she did not think of anyone but herself. She did not consider that Odysseus still has a journey to make," another girl chimed up.

"Good point. 10 points for that, Andrea," responded the teacher. "Does anyone else want to recite?"

No one answered.

"Okay, I think we had enough discussion. Bring out your notebooks and copy down the notes I will write on the board."

Calypso felt like someone pierced her heart. Her eyes stung. She did not expect the world around her to judge her harshly like this. Was this how she was seen, through mortal's eyes?

Aside from her hurt feelings, she thought about what Leo would think of her now. Would he realize what kind of girl she was? Would he be disgusted with her now? A thought hit her hard: _would he break up with me and find a more respectable girl instead?_

She was about to cry when Leo spoke up, "Mrs. Riley, I would also like to recite."

"Yes, Valdez?"

"I am not answering your question but I am just voicing out my opinion. On Calypso.

A flash of dread washed over her. Would he too judge her like they did?

"What if we, and the books got it wrong?" Leo began. "What if she wasn't a flirt or seductress, or whatever you call it? What if she was just a lonely girl, a lonely person trapped in a lonely place? What if after all those ages of being alone, she just finally found a companion and accidentally fell in love with him? Would it be wrong to feel the way she did? If it were us, wouldn't we feel the same thing?"

Calypso's eyes shone.

She felt protected.

She felt more at ease.

Everyone fell silent.

Finally, Mrs. Riley spoke. "I don't know where you're coming from, boy, and I do wonder if you have thoroughly read the literary piece. Calypso's nature and motives were well-reflected in it. Though I do commend sharing your unique perspective on the character. 5 points for that."

Leo sat down on his seat with a small smile.

§

Leo walked Calypso home at dismissal time.

"Why did you say that?" Calypso asked Leo, her voice barely audible.

"What? Oh, when I recited at literature class? Of course, I would not just keep quiet when my girlfriend is being abused like that." Leo answered.

"But the things you heard about me, they're true!" Calypso exclaimed, bewildered why Leo could not see her for what she was and anxious at the same time that it would be a reason for her to lose him.

A moment of silence passed. Leo turned to face her.

"They _were_ true. In the books, in their eyes. But they're not true to _me_ ," he said, uncharacteristically serious. "The Calypso I've known is different. She is considerate, kind, and caring. She thinks about others more than herself, unlike what _they_ said. She thought about the journey I had to make to save the world and put it first before her feelings. She could have persuaded me to stay and I would have gladly did, but she chose to help me to get back to my friends and finish our quest instead. And for that, I respect her. Above everything else, for all she is, I love her. No matter what."

Calypso's heart melted. Here was a boy looking past her past, flaws and all, and looking at who she was now instead. Here was a boy loving her for who she simply was.

Here was a boy she would never trade for anything else, not even immortality or remaining to be a goddess.

Here was a boy she loved above everything else.

She could not think of anything else to say or do except to embrace and kiss him under the starlit sky.


End file.
